South Carolina's seniors reflect on Colonial Life Arena experience: 'There's nobody like the FAMs'

18,000 fans rising to their feet, their voices combining into a deafening roar. “Sandstorm” blaring on all the loudspeakers, prompting a swarm of white rally towels to rise into the air.

Loud roars that echo throughout the arena when the clock ticks down to zero, signaling another win for the home team. These are the sights and sounds familiar to anyone who visits Colonial Life Arena on a South Carolina women’s basketball game day. The team’s record-setting attendance levels have created an atmosphere in the venue that is unlike any other in the sport.

As the NCAA Tournament transitions from home venues to neutral sites, it will be another eight months before Colonial Life Arena hosts another women’s basketball game. And for some current Gamecocks, mainly the seniors, that electricity is something they will not experience as players again.

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Three of those seniors – Bree Hall, Te-Hina Paopao and Sania Feagin – each had an opportunity to reflect on what their experiences with the Gamecock fanbase and at Colonial Life Arena meant to them. And they all had nothing but good things to say.

“Our fanbase is the best of the best. It’ll be hard to replicate that anywhere,” Hall said. “I’m so grateful for a lot of the things that they’ve done for me and my team, and I hope they continue supporting them as I go and move on.”

Hall and Feagin have been with the team since the 2021-22 campaign, both players’ freshman years. They, along with Raven Johnson, have become one of the winningest classes in program history. Over the last four seasons, South Carolina boasts a 142-6 overall record and has won three SEC Tournament and two NCAA Tournament championships.

The Gamecocks’ most passionate supporters – known as “FAMs” – have been there every step of the way, Hall said.

“The love has been there all four years, and I’m just so grateful for them embracing me and taking me for who I am as a player. I feel like they’ve done a great job to show support to every team I’ve been on since my freshman year,” Hall said. “They’re an incredible fanbase. There’s nobody like the FAMs, honestly.”

Paopao, however, joined the party later in her college basketball career. She spent her first three years at Oregon before transferring to South Carolina ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Paopao said Gamecock fans have embraced her since she first stepped foot on the University of South Carolina’s campus.

“I’ve loved it ever since day one. They’ve been showing so much love,” Paopao said. “I’m just so fortunate to be able to have that support from this crowd, and it’s been so much fun.”

That support is most apparent during games, when loud cheers erupt after big plays are made on the floor. According to Hall, the FAMs saved their best shouts for last. South Carolina’s early third-quarter scoring rally against Indiana produced the loudest cheers she ever heard at Colonial Life Arena, Hall said.

Feagin added that the sounds of a roaring crowd are what she will miss most about playing there.

“I’m going to miss how loud they get, how supportive they are. I’m really going to miss that,” Feagin said. “But I feel like they’re taking it on to the next level, as well.”

For Paopao, support from South Carolina’s fans is bigger than just the Gamecock women’s basketball program. As women’s basketball continues to increase in popularity, so will their passion for the sport, Paopao said.

And she hopes it stays that way.

“Just how much they support women’s basketball, it’s a great sight to see. And it’s going to keep going up from here and growing,” Paopao said. “I’m going to be very fortunate to see that growth. I’ve been part of that growth. So, I’m just really blessed to be able to do that.”

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